What is an IP Address?

Each machine connected to the Internet has an address known as an Internet Protocol address (IP address). The IP address takes the form of four numbers separated by dots, for example: 123.45.67.890

The “IP” stands for Internet Protocol. Every device in an IP-based network, including PCs, print servers, and routers, requires an IP address to identify its location, or address, on the network. There are two ways of assigning IP addresses to your network devices—Static and Dynamic.

A static IP address is a fixed IP address that you assign manually to a PC or other device on the network. Since a static IP address remains valid until you disable it, static IP addressing ensures that the device assigned it will always have that same IP address until you change it. Static IP addresses are commonly used with network devices such as server PCs or print servers.

A dynamic IP address is automatically assigned to a device on the network. These IP addresses are called dynamic because they are only temporarily assigned to the PC or other device. After a certain time period, they expire and may change. When a dynamic IP address expires, the assigning device (or DHCP server) provides a new IP address to the requesting computer or device.

Your VoIP VoIP Router contains a DHCP server. This means that for most people, all you have to do is plug your computer’s network cable into the Router and your computer will automatically configure itself to reach the Internet.